REPORT 

by 

Venustiano  Carranza 

(First  Chief  of  the  Constitutionalist  Army) 

In  the  City  of  Queretaro,  State  of  Queretaro,  Mex.  t 
Friday,  December  1st,  1916 


Published  by 

LATIN-AMERICAN  NEWS  ASSOCIATION 
1400  Broadway,  New  York  City 


% 


5m 


. 

. _ _■ 

*  ' 


' 


> 


V- 


\ 


REPORT 

made  by  the  First  Chief  of  the  Constitutionalist  Army,  Venus- 
tiano  Carranza,  before  the  first  Meeting  of  the  “Congreso 
Constituyente”  in  the  City  of  Queretaro,  State  of  Queretaro, 
Republic  of  Mexico,  at  four  o’clock  in  the  afternoon  of  Friday, 

December  the  first,  1916. 

“One  of  the  greatest  satisfactions  which  I  have  had  since 
starting  the  struggle  which  I,  as  Constitutional  governor  of  the 
State  of  Coahuila  began  against  the  usurpation  of  the  govern¬ 
ment  of  the  Republic,  is  that  of  being  able  at  the  present  moment 
to  place  in  your  hands,  in  fulfillment  of  one  of  the  promises  which 
I  made  to  the  Mexican  people  in  the  City  of  Veracruz,  in  the  name 
of  the  revolution;  the  project  of  a  reformed  Constitution;  a  pro¬ 
ject  which  comprises  all  the  political  reforms  which  several  years’ 
experience  and  a  careful  and  constant  observation  have  sug¬ 
gested  as  indispensable  for  cementing,  on  a  solid  basis,  the  in¬ 
stitutions  and  laws  under  which  the  Nation  shall  work  out  its 
salvation,  marching  towards  progress  along  Liberty  and  Law. 
The  political  Constitution  of  1857,  left  to  us  by  our  forefathers 
as  a  precious  inheritance  under  which  the  Mexican  Nationality 
has  crystalized,  a  constitution  which  penetrated  into  the  national 
soul  with  the  War  of  Reform,  during  which  great  things  were 
accomplished,  and  which  constituted  the  flag  carried  by  the 
people  to  the  battlefield  during  the  war  against  intervention, 
presents  without  doubt  the  consecration  of  the  highest  prin¬ 
ciples,  fully  acknowledged  in  the  dazzling  light  of  the  greatest 
revolution  that  has  ever  taken  place  in  the  world  at  the  end  of 
the  eighteenth  century ;  principles  which  have  been  sanctioned 
by  the  constant  and  patient  practice  which  have  made  of  them 
two  of  the  greatest  countries  on  earth  :  England  and  the  United 
States. 

Unfortunately  the  legislators  of  1857  were  satisfied  with  the 
proclamation  of  general  principles  which  they  did  not  endeavor  to 


3 


carry  into  practice  adapting  them  to  the  needs  of  the  Mexican 
people  in  order  to  fulfill  them  completely  and  rapidly;  there¬ 
fore,  our  political  code  in  general  has  the  appearance  of  a  col¬ 
lection  of  abstract  formulae  wherein  scientific  deductions  of  a 
great  speculative  value  have  been  condensed,  but  from  which 
little  or  no  usefulness  has  been  derived.  In  sooth,  the  individual 
rights  which  the  Constitution  of  1857  claims  are  the  basis  of  social 
institutions,  have  been  conculcated  almost  constantly  by  the 
different  governments  which  since  its  promulgation  have  suc¬ 
ceeded  one  another  in  the  Republic,  and  the  organic  laws  of  the 
appeal  trial  (juicio  de  amparo)  designed  to  protect  such  rights, 
instead  of  helping  to  a  rapid  and  exact  result,  did  nothing  but 
deviate  justice,  impossibilitating  the  action,  not  only  of  the 
federal  courts  usually  swamped  by  numberless  files,  but  also 
that  of  the  common  courts,  obstructed  by  the  suspension  orders 
issued  without  rule  or  justification.  But  there  is  still  more. 

The  resource  of  appeal,  instituted  with  a  high  social  aim,  soon 
became  denaturalized  until  it  was  converted,  first  into  a  political 
weapon,  and  afterwards  into  an  appropriate  means  to  make  an 
end  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  states,  since  even  the  most  insigni¬ 
ficant  acts  of  the  authorities  in  the  states  were  subjected  to  re¬ 
vision  by  the  Supreme  Court;  and  as  that  high  court,  due  to  the 
manner  in  which  its  members  were  appointed,  was  absolutely 
under  the  influence  of  the  chief  of  the  Executive  power,  it  be¬ 
came  evident  that  the  declaration  of  the  Rights  of  Man  stated  in 
the  Federal  Constitution  of  1857,  had  not  had  the  practical  im¬ 
portance  which  was  expected. 

Therefore,  the  first  basis  on  which  the  whole  .  structure  of 
social  institutions  should  rest,  was  inefficient  to  consolidate  and 
adapt  them  to  their  object,  which  was  the  establishment  of  the 
relations  between  the  individual  and  the  State,  in  a  simple  and 
practical  form,  demarcating  the  respective  boundaries  within 
which  their  respective  activities  should  develop,  without  shackles 
of  any  kind ;  for  the  activity  of  the  individual,  outside  of  bounds, 
becomes  perturbing  and  anarchical,  and  that  of  the  State,  op¬ 
pressive  and  despotic.  But  the  principle  to  which  reference  has 
just  been  made,  although  expressly  and  categorically  formulated, 
has  had  no  real  practical  value,  notwithstanding  that  in  the  field 
of  constitutional  rights  it  is  an  indisputable  truth.  The  same 
thing  exactly  has  occurred  with  all  th  eother  fundamental  prin¬ 
ciples  set  forth  in  the  same  Constitution  of  1857.  These  principles 
have  up  to  the  present  time,  never  been  anything  more  than  a 
delightful  hope,  the  realization  of  which  has  always  been  a 
mockery.  In  truth,  the  national  sovereignty  which  is  rooted  in 
the  people,  does  not  and  has  not  been,  except  in  very  few  in¬ 
stances,  a  reality  in  Mexico,  because,  if  not  always,  usually  in  an 
uninterrupted  manner,  public  power  has  been  exercised  not  by  the 
free  appointment  made  by  the  untrammelled  will  of  the  nation, 


4 


under  the  forms  established  by  law,  but  by  the  impositions  of 
those  who  had  in  their  hands  public  force  to  invest  th&mselves 
or  invest  others  selected  by  them,  with  the  representation  of  the 
people.  Another  principle  which  has  not  been  carried  out,  and 
consequently  has  had  no  positive  noticeable  value,  is  that  funda¬ 
mental  one  clearly  stated  in  the  Constitution  of  1857  relative  to 
the  division  of  the  exercise  of  public  power;  for  such  division  has 
as  a  general  rule,  been  existent  on  paper  only,  since  it  is  a  fact 
that  public  powers  have  been  exercised  by  only  one  individual, 
and  the  contempt  of  the  Supreme  law  has  been  evidenced  by  a 
series  of  acts  constantly  repeated  which  granted  to  the  chief 
executive,  without  any  opposition,  the  power  of  legislating  on  all 
subjects,  and  the  Legislative  Power  was  reduced  to  acquiesce, 
and  afterwards  to  approve  what  was  done  by  virtue  of  those 
faculties ;  and  no  case  is  on  record  wherein  the  Legislative 
Power  has  reproved,  or  even  raised  an  objection  to  that  usurpa¬ 
tion  of  its  rights.  In  the  same  manner  the  precept  which  sanc¬ 
tions  the  federation!  of  the  States  which  form  the  Mexican 
Republic,  declaring  that  they  must  be  free  and  sovereign  as  re¬ 
gards  their  interior  regime  has  been  a  vain  promise,  until  now, 
since  the  history  of  the  country  demonstrates  that,  as  a  general 
rule,  and  with  extremely  rare  exceptions,  this  sovereignty  has 
been  purely  nominal,  because  the  central  power  has  always  been 
the  one  to  impose  its  will,  while  the  authorities  in  each  state 
have  limited  themselves  to  being  the  obedient  instruments  of 
the  central  authority.  Finally,  the  promise  made  by  the  Con¬ 
stitution  of  1857  relative  to  assuring  to  the  States  the  popular  re¬ 
publican  representative  form  has  also  been  vain,  for,  shielding 
themselves  behind  this  principle,  which  is  also  one  of  the 
fundamental  ones  in  the  Federal  Government  system  adopted 
for  all  the  country,  the  Central  powers  have  intervened  in  the 
interior  administration  of  a  state  when  its  governor  has  not  been 
docile  to  the  orders  of  the  former,  or  they  have  fostered  the 
establishment  in  each  state  of  a  real  “cacicazgo”,  for  such  has 
almost  invariably  been  the  so-called  administration  of  the 
governors  whom  the  people  has  seen  in  power.  The  country’s 
history,  the  latter  part  of  which  is  familiar  to  you,  presents 
abundant  data  to  fully  prove  the  assertions  I  have  made.  But 
in  the  first  place  I  know  that  you  do  not  doubt  them,  as  no 
Mexican  is  unaware  of  the  scandals  caused  by  the  flagrant 
violations  of  the  Constitution  of  1857,  and  secondly,  this  would 
require  extensive  explanations  entirely  outside  of  the  limits  of  a 
summary  statement  of  the  principal  points  of  the  initiative  which 
I  now  place  in  your  hands  so  that  you  may  study  it  as  carefully 
and  painstakingly  as  is  required  by  the  nation,  which  expects  you 
to  remedy  the  ills  and  miseries  which  it  has  endured  for  so  many 
years. 

In  its  expositive  part,  the  decree  of  September  14,  of  the 
current  years,  which  modifies  several  of  the  articles  added  to  the 
Plan  of  Guadalupe,  under  date  of  December  12,  1914,  the  govern- 


5 


ment  of  which  I  am  in  charge,  expressly  offered  that  the  pro¬ 
posed  reforms  to  the  Constitution  of  1857  to  be  presented  to 
this  Congress,  would  leave  intact  its  liberal  spirit  and  the  form 
of  government  established  therein ;  that  those  reforms  would 
affect  only  those  parts  of  the  constitution  which  make  it  inap¬ 
plicable,  to  supply  its  deficiencies,  to  clear  the  obscure  precepts 
and  to  cleanse  it  of  all  those  reforms  which  were  inspired  only 
by  the  desire  to  make  it  a  tool  in  order  to  enthrone  dictatorship. 
I  cannot  say  that  the  project  which  I  now  present  to  your  con¬ 
sideration  is  a  perfect  work,  since  no  work  of  human  intellect  can 
aspire  so  high,  but  I  can  assure  you,  gentlemen,  that  the  pro¬ 
posed  reforms  are  the  fruit  of  a  sincere  conviction,  of  personal 
experience  and  of  a  deep  desire  that  the  Mexican  people  may 
secure  the  enjoyment  of  all  its  liberties,  the  enlightenment  and 
the  progress  of  which  signify  respect  abroad  and  peace  and  wel¬ 
fare  in  all  domestic  matters. 

I  am  going  to  present  to  you,  gentlemen,  a  synthesis  of  the  re¬ 
forms  to  which  I  refer,  so  as  to  give  you  a  short,  clear  idea  of 
the  principles  which  have  guided  me,  for  thus  you  will  be  able 
to  appreciate  whether  or  not  I  have  reached  the  object  for  which 
I  aimed,  and  you  will  also  then  be  able  to  learn  what  you  have 
to  do  in  order  to  duly  fulfill  your  task.  It  being  the  object  of  all 
governments  to  protect  and  help  each  individual,  that  is  to  say, 
each  of  the  units  which  form  the  nation,  it  is  unquestionable 
that  the  first  requisite  to  be  fulfilled  by  a  political  constitution 
must  be  the  protection  of  individuals  granted  with  as  much  pre¬ 
cision  and  clarity  as  is  adaptable  to  human  liberty  in  all  its  direct 
and  necessary  manifestations,  as  they  constitute  the  personality 
of  man. 

The  Constitution  of  a  people  must  not  try, — if  it  is  to  have 
a  lasting  existence — to  place  an  artificial  boundary  between  the 
State  and  the  individual  as  if  endeavoring  to  extend  the  field  of 
action  of  the  former  to  the  detriment  of  the  latter,  so  that  what 
is  given  to  the  former  is  the  condition  for  the  protection  it  im¬ 
parts  to  that  which  the  latter  reserves  for  himself ;  but  it  must 
strive  that  the  authority  given  by  the  people  to  its  representa¬ 
tives — since  the  people  cannot  exert  it  themselves — should  not  be 
turned  against  the  society  which  has  granted  it,  and  whose  rights 
must  be  within  its  reach.  But  one  must  keep  in  mind  that  the 
government  must,  perforce  and  necessarily,  be  a  means  to 
carry  out  all  those  conditions  without  which,  right  cannot  develop 
and  exist.  Starting  from  this  primary  idea,  which  must  figure  in 
the  first  place  as  indicating  the  aim  of  the  institution  of  the 
government,  which  is  that  of  giving  their  real  value  to  social  in¬ 
stitutions, — the  action  of  public  powers  shall  be  conveniently 
directed  and  an  end  will  be  put  to  certain  political  and  social 
habits,  that  is  to  say,  certain  government  processes  which  to 
date  have  never  had  any  basis ;  for,  although  the  Mexican  people 
does  not  believe  in  a  social  pact  whereby  the  political -organi- 


6 


zation  rests  fully  on  the  divine  origin  of  a  monarch,  lord  of  lives 
and  property,  it  perfectly  understands  that  the  laws  it  has,  tho 
proclaiming  high  principles,  do  not  accommodate  themselves  to 
its  mode  of  feeling  and  thinking;  and  instead  of  satisfying  its 
need  of  giving  protection,  to  the  full  use  of  freedom,  these  laws 
lack  life,  since  they  have  been  controlled  by  an  enervating  mili¬ 
tary  despotism  and  by  iniquitous  exploitations  which  have  sunk 
the  more  numerous  classes  into  a  deep  mire  of  desperation  and 
ruin. 

For  this  reason,  the  first  declaration  in  the  political  constitu¬ 
tion  of  a  people  is  to  guarantee  human  freedom  in  the  most 
ample  and  full  manner  possible,  in  order  to  prevent  the  govern¬ 
ment,  under  the  pretext  of  order  or  peace — the  motives  always 
alleged  by  tyrarrts  in  order  to  justify  their  outrages — from  at¬ 
tempting  at  any  time  to  limit  the  rights  of  the  governed  ones, 
impeding  the  full  use  of  these  rights,  and  assuming  the  exclusive 
faculty  of  directing  individual  initiative  and  social  activities, 
and  trying  to  control  man  and  society.  The  Constitution  of 
1857  states,  as  I  have  already  said,  that  the  rights  of  man  are 
the  basis  and  object  of  all  social  institutions,  but  with  few  ex¬ 
ceptions,  it  does  not  guarantee  these  rights  in  due  manner ;  nor 
was-  this  done  by  the  successive  laws  that  were  passed,  and 
which  do  not  prescribe  any  serious  punishment  for  the  violation 
of  those  rights,  since  they  merely  give  nugatory  penalties  which 
very  seldom  become  effective.  Therefore,  and  without  fear  of 
falling  into  any  exaggerations,  one  can  say  that  despite  the  Con¬ 
stitution  referred  to,  individual  liberty  was  completely  at  the 
mercy  of  rulers.  The  number  of  outrages  against  freedom  and 
its  different  manifestations  during  the  period  of  time  in  which 
the  Constitution  of  1857  has  been  in  force,  is  surprising;  there 
have  been  daily  complaints  against  the  abuses  and  excesses  com¬ 
mitted  by  the  authorities  throughout  the  republic  and  notwith¬ 
standing  the  general  spread  of  this  evil  and  the  constant  dis¬ 
turbances  which  the  judicial  authorities  caused  the  Federation, 
the  latter  never  made  any  efforts  to  repress  such  abuses,  much 
less  to  punish  for  them. 

The  imagination  cannot  conceive  the  number  of  appeals  from 
consignment  to  military  service  or  from  arbitrary  acts  of  the 
civil  authorities  especially  the  “jefes  Piliticos”  mayors,  who, 
seemed  to  be  the  tormentors  of  the  individual  and  of  society 
rather  than  the  ones  charged  with  maintaining  order ;  and  as¬ 
suredly  these  appeals  would  cause  not  surprise,  but  amazement 
even  in  those  most  heedless  and  insensible  to  the  misery  of 
mankind.  The  mere  declaration  of  right  which  is  enough  to  im¬ 
pose  respect  in  a  people  of  high  culture  wherein  the  proclamation 
of  a  fundamental  principle  of  political  and  social  order  is  suffi¬ 
cient,  becomes  a  barrier  behind  which  the  authority  invested  with 
omnimode  faculties,  assuming  unlimited  power,  and  where  the 
people  has  nothing  to  do  but  keep  silent  and  endure.  The  cor- 


7 


rection  of  these  evils  is  the  aim  of  the  different  reforms  which 
the  Government  in  my  charge  proposes  in  regard  to  the  first 
section  of  the  first  title  of  the  Constitution  of  1857,  and  I  enter¬ 
tain  the  hope  that  by  these  reforms  and  the  severe  penalties  im¬ 
posed  by  the  penal  code  for  the  outrages  to  individual  guaran¬ 
tees,  it  will  be  possible  to  make  the  public  authorities  what  they 
should  be,  the  instruments  of  social  safety,  instead  of  being  what 
they  have  been :  the  oppressors  of  the  people  which  unhappily 
have  been  under  their  sway.  It  would  require  a  long  time  to 
enumerate  all  the  reforms  proposed  in  this  project;  but  allow  me 
to  call  your  attention  to  a  few  of  them,  on  account  of  their 
special  importance.  Article  14  of  the  Constitution  of  1857,  which 
in  the  mind  of  the  Constituents,  as  deduced  from  its  text  and 
the  discussions  which  took  place  relative  thereto,  referred  only 
to  trials  of  the  penal  order,  after  many  delays  and  contradictory 
decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court,  was  definitely  extended  to  civil 
cases  and  the  result  of  this  was,  as  I  have  already  stated,  that 
the  judicial  federal  authorities  became  the  revisors  of  all  acts 
of  the  judicial  authorities  in  the  States,  and  thus  the  Federal 
power  on  account  of  the  influence  it  exerted,  controlled  the 
action  of  the  common  courts,  either  with  political  views  or  in 
order  to  advance  some  favorite.  Due  to  the  appeal  recourse,  the 
federal  judicial  authorities  were  overburdened  with  work,  and 
the  course  of  common  court  cases  was  greatly  impeded.  Despite 
all  these  facts,  we  must  acknowledge  that  the  tendency  to  give 
an  undue  extension  to  article  14  of  the  Constitution  was  caused 
by  the  urgent  necessity  to  reduce  the  judicial  authority  of 
the  States  to  their  just  boundaries,  for  it  was  soon  felt  that  the 
judges,  converted  into  the  unconditional  tools  of  the  governors 
who  brazenly  interfered  in  matters  -absolutely  outside  of  their 
scope,  made  it  necessary  to  have  recourse  to  the  federal  judicial 
authority  in  order  to  repress  all  those  abuses.  So  it  appears 
from  the  modification  made  under  date  of  December  12,  1908,  to 
article  102  of  the  Constitution  of  1857,  a  reform  which,  other¬ 
wise,  is  very  far  from  attaining  its  object,  and  merely  com¬ 
plicated  still  more  the  mechanism  of  the  appeal,  already  slow 
and  difficult ;  furthermore,  the  Supreme  Court  made  so  many 
breaches  of  this  reform,  that  within  a  short  time  it  was  abso¬ 
lutely  null  and  useless. 

The  Mexican  people  is  so  used  to  appeal  in  the  civil  proceed¬ 
ings  in  order  to  free  themselves  from  the  arbitrary  acts  of  judges, 
that  the  government  in  my  charge  has  considered  it  imprudent 
and  unjust  to  deprive  them  of  this  recourse,  and  thinks  it  will  be 
sufficient  to  limit  it  to  the  cases  where  it  is  absolutely  necessary, 
expediting  it  so  that  its  course  will  be  rapid  and  effective,  as 
the  Chamber  will  see  by -the  proposed  reforms.  Article  20  of 
the  Constitution  of  1857,  marks  the  guarantees  which  every  de¬ 
fendant  shall  have  in  any  criminal  proceedings ;  put  into  practice, 
those  guarantees  have  been  absolutely  ineffective,  since  al¬ 
though  not  violating  them  openly,  practices  which  were  abso- 


8 


lutely  inquisitorial  have  been  carried  on  the  side  which  generally 
leave  the  defendant  subject  to  the  arbitrary  and  despotic  action 
of  the  judges  and  even  of  the  agents  or  clerks  in  the  offices  of  the 
former. 

You  well  know,  gentlemen,  and  the  whole  Mexican  people 
knows  it  as  well,  that  the  rigorous  incommunication,  or  solitary 
confinement  at  times  prolonged  for  several  months,  to  punish  pre¬ 
sumptive  political  prisoners,  or  to  frighten  and  subdue  the  un¬ 
happy  individuals  who  had  fallen  under  the  action  of  the  criminal 
courts  and  compell  them  to  make  forced  confessions  which  prac¬ 
tically  always  were  false,  and  which  were  merely  the  outcome  of 
a  desire  to  get  out  of  dirt  and  conditions  which  were  a  real 
menace  to  health  and  even  to  life. 

The  criminal  procedure  in  Mexico  has,  up  to  date,  and  with 
slight  variations,  been  exactly  the  same  which  was  implanted  by 
the  Spanish  domination,  without  any  change  in  the  harshness  of 
the  treatment  of  prisoners,  for  the  Mexican  legislation  has  re¬ 
mained  entirely  conservative  in  this  matter,  without  any  one 
taking  any  pains  to  improve  it  in  this  point. 

Secret  proceedings  and  acts  took  place,  with  which  the  ac¬ 
cused  was  not  acquainted,  as  if  his  own  freedom  and  life  were 
not  at  stake ;  restrictions  to  the  rights  of  the  defense,  preventing 
the  accused  and  his  defenders  from  being  present  at  the  hearing 
of  proofs  against  the  former,  as  if  these  were  of  no  moment 
to  the  prisoner,  and  finally,  the  fate  of  the  prisoner  was  left 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  clerks  who,  either  by  antagonism  or 
interest,  altered  their  own  declarations,  those  of  the  witnesses 
against  him,  and  even  those  of  the  witnesses  who  had  declared 
for  him.  The  law  grants  the  accused  freedom  under  bail  during 
the  course  of  the  proceedings,  in  certain  cases ;  but  this  faculty 
was  subject  to  the  arbitrary  will  of  the  judges,  it  being  sufficient 
in  order  to  annul  this  concession,  a  mere  declaration  that  they 
feared  the  prisoner  would  evade  the  action  of  justice  by  fleeing 
and  losing  the  amount  of  the  bail.  Lastly,  there  is  no  law  which 
establishes,  in  a  precise  and  clear  way,  the  maximum  duration 
of  penal  proceedings,  and  this  lack  has  permitted  the  judges  to 
hold  the  defendants  for  a  longer  period  than  that  marked  by  the 
law  for  the  misdemeanor  or  crime,  and  thus  arrests  were  often 
absolutely  unjustified  and  arbitrary. 

The  reforms  suggested  for  Article  20  will  remedy  all  these 
evils. 

Article  21  of  the  Constitution  of  1857  granted  to  the  adminis¬ 
trative  authority  the  power  of  imposing,  as  a  correction,  up  to 
$500  fino  or  up  to  one  month’s  imprisonment  in  the  cases  and 
manner  expressly  determined  by  the  law,  reserving  for  the 
judicial  authority  the  exclusive  application  of  all  penalties 
properly  called  so,  This  precept  opened  a  wide  breach  for 


9 


abuses,  for  the  administrative  authority  considered  itself  always 
authorized  to  impose  one  month  of  imprisonment  for  any  imagin¬ 
ary  fault,  a  month  which  was  always  prolonged,  and  never 
ended  on  time.  The  proposed  reform  in  this  particular,  while 
confirming  the  judges  in  their  exclusive  power  of  imposing 
penalties,  grants  to  the  administrative  authority  the  right  to 
punish  only  infractions  to  the  police  bylaws,  which  ordinarily 
mean  fines  and  not  imprisonment,  which  is  imposed  only  when 
the  infractor  cannot  pay  the  fine.  The  reform  does  not  stop 
there,  but  offers  a  new  suggestion  which  undoubtedly  will  com¬ 
pletely  revolutionize  the  system  of  procedure  which  for  so  long  a 
time  despite  all  its  imperfections  and  deficiencies  has  ruled  the 
country.  The  laws  now  in  force,  both  in  the  federal  and  in  the 
common  order,  have  adopted  the  institution  of  the  “Ministerio 
Publico”  but  this  adoption  has  been  nominal,  for  the  function 
assigned,  to  the  representatives  of  the  former  has  a  merely 
decorative  character,  for  the  prompt  and  straight  administration 
of  justice.  Mexican  judges  during  the  period  that  has  elapsed 
from  the  consummation  of  independence  to  date,  have  been 
identical  to  the  judges  of  the  colonial  period.  They  are  in  charge 
of  investigating  delinquencies  by  seeking  proofs,  for  which 
reason,  and  in  order  to  secure  them,  they  have  felt  authorized 
in  committing-  real  assaults  on  the  defendants  to  compel  them  to 
confess,  acts  which  without  doubt  denaturalize  the  functions  of 
judges.  The  whole  nation  remembers  with  horror  the  outrages 
committed  by  judges  who,  craving  fame,  awaited  with  positive 
fruition  the  arrival  in  their  hands  of  a  case  which  would  permit 
them  to  deploy  a  complete  system  of  oppression  against  indi¬ 
viduals  who  were  in  many  cases  innocent,  and  in  others,  against 
the  tranquility  and  honor  of  families,  respecting  no  barriers,  not 
even  those  imposed  by  the  law  itself.  The  same  organization  of 
the  “Ministerio  Publico”  (Public  prosecutor)  at  the  same  time 
that  it  will  prevent  such  vicious  proceedings,  restoring  to  judges 
all  the  dignity  and  respectability  of  the  magistracy,  will  enjoy 
its  full  importance,  taking  exclusive  charge  of  the  persecution  of 
delinquency  and  the  search  for  proofs  which  will  no  longer  be 
carried  out  in  the  censurable  and  outrageous  manner  in  which 
it  was  done,  and  will  issue  orders  for  the  apprehension  of 
delinquents. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  “Ministerio  Publico”  having  under  his 
orders  judicial  repressive  police,  will  take  away  from  Municipal 
Mayors  and  common  police,  the  facilities  which  the  latter  have 
had  up  to  date,  for  arresting  any  individual  they  considered  sus¬ 
picious,  without  any  more  reason  than  their  own  personal  con¬ 
victions.  By  the  establishment  of  public  prosecutors  such  as  is 
proposed,  individual  freedom  is  guaranteed,  for  according  to 
article  16,  no  one  may  be  detained  except  under  orders  of  the 
judicial  authorities,  and  the  latter  cannot  issue  such  orders  ex¬ 
cept  in  the  terms  and  with  the  requisites  prescribed  by  that 
article. 


10 


Article  27  of  the  Constitution  of  1857  authorizes  the  authorities 
to  take  possession  of  the  property  of  any  individual,  without  his 
previous  consent,  when  public  utility  so  demands.  This  power, 
in  the  the  judgment  of  the  Government  in  my  charge,  is  sufficient 
to  acquire  lands  and  distribute  them  in  the  form  considered  con¬ 
venient  :  among  the  people  who  want  to  undertake  agricultural 
labors,  thus  founding  the  small  property,  which  must  be  pro¬ 
moted  as  public  necessity  may  demand  it.  The  only  proposed 
reform  to  this  article  is  that  the  declaration  of  necessity  be  made 
by  the  corresponding  administrative  authority,  and  the  judicial 
authority  will  have  only  the  power  to  intervene  in  order  to  ap¬ 
praise  the  exact  valuation  of  the  land  to  be  expropriated.  This 
article,  besides  keeping  in  force  the  law  prohibiting  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  corporations  to  acquire  and  administer  real  estate, 
but  exempting  from  this  all  private  and  public  beneficent  insti¬ 
tutions  in  regard  to  the  real  estate  strictly  necessary,  to  carry  out 
immediately  and  directly,  the  object  of  these  institutions,  and 
authorizing  them  to  accept  on  said  real  estate  capitals  and  in¬ 
terest,  the  latter  not  to  exceed  in  any  case  the  legal  rate,  and  for 
a  period  not  over  ten  years. 

The  need  of  this  reform  is  obvious,  for  no  one  is  ignorant  of 
the  fact  that  the  clergy,  impossibilitated  to  acquire  real  estate, 
has  defrauded  the  law  by  means  of  the  organization  of  corpora¬ 
tions  ;  and  as  on  the  other  side,  these  companies  have  under¬ 
taken  the  acquisition  of  large  tracts  of  land  in  the  Republic,  it  is 
necessary  to  correct  this  evil  in  an  effective  and  rapid  manner ; 
otherwise  the  national  territory  would  soon  be,  either  really  or  in 
a  fictitious  manner,  in  the  hands  of  foreigners.  It  is  obviously 
necessary  that  every  foreigner,  when  acquiring  real  estate  in  the 
country,  should  renounce  his  nationality  expressly  with  refer¬ 
ence  to  such  property,  submitting  in  regard  to  it,  in  a  complete 
and  absolute  manner,  to  the  Mexican  laws ;  a  thing  which  could 
not  be  accomplished  as  to  societies,  which  on  the  other  hand  con¬ 
stitute,  as  has  been  suggested,  a  real  menace  of  monopolization  of 
the  territorial  property  of  the  republic.  Finally,  this  article  ex¬ 
pressly  forbids  that  institutions  of  private  beneficence  be  in 
charge  of  religious  corporations  or  of  ministres  of  cults,  for 
otherwise  the  door  of  abuse  would  be  open  again. 

With  these  reforms  to  article  27,  and  the  reform  proposed  for 
article  28  in  order  to  combat  monopolies  efficaciously,  and  to  as¬ 
sure  free  competition  in  all  branches  of  human  activities — a  com¬ 
petition  which  is  indispensable  to  secure  the  life  and  development 
of  peoples, — and  with  the  authorization  which  the  proposed  re¬ 
form  of  section  20  of  article  72  confers  on  federal  legislative 
power  for  the  issuance  of  laws  on  labor,  whereby  all  improve¬ 
ments  of  social  progress  shall  be  implanted  for  the  benefit  of  the 
working  classes ;  with  the  limitation  of  the  hours  of  work  itself, 
so  that  the  workingman  will  not  exhaust  himself,  and  may  have 
time  for  rest  and  recreation,  and  for  the  cultivation  of  his  mind, 


11 


so  that  he  may  be  enabled  to  have  intercourse  with  his  neighbors, 
which  engenders  sympathies  and  breeds  habits  of  co-operation 
towards  the  common  weal ;  the  responsibility  of  contractors  in 
case  of  accidents ;  the  policies  for  old  age  or  illness ;  the  establish¬ 
ment  of  a  minimum  salary  sufficient  to  cover  the  immediate 
needs  of  the  individual  and  his  family,  to  insure  and  improve 
his  position;  the  law  of  divorce  which  has  been  enthusiastically 
received  by  the  different  social  classes  as  a  means  to  establish 
the  family  on  a  basis  of  love  and  not  on  that  of  interest  and  con¬ 
venience  ;  with  the  laws  which  will  soon  be  issued  to  establish 
the  family  on  a  more  rational  and  just  basis,  which  will  elevate 
the  consorts  to  the  high  mission  which  society  and  nature  place 
in  their  charge,  such  as  propagating  the  species  and  forming  the 
family;  by  means  of  all  these  reforms,  I  repeat,  the  government 
in  my  charge  has  logical  hopes  that  all  political  institutions  in  the 
country  will  respond  satisfactorily  to  all  social  needs,  and  this,  to¬ 
gether  with  the  guarantees  which  protect  individual  liberty,  will 
become  a  real  fact  and  not  mere  impossible  promises ;  and  that 
the  division  among  the  three  branches  of  public  power  will  im¬ 
mediately  become  effective,  and  a  solid  foundation  for  true 
democracy  in  Mexico,  that  is  to  say,  the  government  of  the 
people  of  Mexico  by  the  effective  co-operation,  spontaneous  and 
conscient,  of  all  the  individuals  who  form  the  nation,  who  will 
look  for  their  own  welfare  in  the  reign  of  law  and  justice,  having 
the  latter  equal  for  all,  defending  the  legitimate  interests  of  all, 
safeguarding  all  noble  aspirations.  In  the  reform  of  article  30  of 
the  Constitution  of  1857,  it  has  been  considered  necessary  to  de¬ 
fine,  with  all  precision  and  clarity,  who  are  Mexicans  by  birth, 
and  who  are  so  by  naturalization,  in  order  to  put  an  end  to  the 
long  dispute  which  some  time  ago  started  about  the  case  whether 
a  foreigner’s  son  born  in  the  country,  who  on  becoming  of  age 
decides  for  Mexican  citizenship,  should  or  should  not  be  con¬ 
sidered  as  a  Mexican  born  citizen.  On  upholding  the  forms  of 
articles  25  and  26  of  the  Constitution  of  1857,  the  old  question 
was  asked,  whether  the  active  vote  should  be  granted  to  all 
citizens  without  exception,  or  only  to  those  who  are  capable  of 
voting  in  an  effective  way  and  conscious  of  what  they  are  doing, 
or  whose  economic  position  gives  them  a  decided  interest  in  the 
management  of  public  affairs.  In  order  that  the  exercise  of  the 
right  of  suffrage  be  a  positive  and  real  manifestation  of  national 
sovereignty,  it  is  necessary  that  it  be  general,  for  all,  free  and 
direct,  because  if  any  of  these  conditions  is  lacking,  it  becomes 
a  class  prerogative  or  a  mere  artifice  to  hide  usurpations  of 
power,  or  governors’  impositions  against  the  evident,  manifest 
will  of  the  people.  Suffrage,  therefore,  being  an  essentially  col¬ 
lective  function  as  a  manifestation  of  the  exercise  of  sovereignty, 
must  be  granted  to  all  members  of  the  social  body  who  under¬ 
stand  its  full  value  and  importance.  This  would  seefm  to  author¬ 
ize  the  conclusion  that  the  right  to  vote  should  be  restricted  to 
those  individuals  who  have  a  full  conception  of  the  high  import 


12 


of  such  an  act,  and  this  would  naturally  exclude  those  who 
through  ignorance,  carelessness  or  indifference  are  incapable  of 
duly  fulfilling  this  act,  as  refers  to  the  government  of  the  people 
by  the  people-  However,  and  although  acknowledging  that  the 
above  is  a  theoretical  truth,  there  are  in  the  case  of  Mexico, 
factors  or  historical  antecedents  which  compel  the  acceptance 
of  a  solution  different  from  the  one  which  is  the  practical  result 
of  the  principles  of  political  science. 

The  revolution  headed  by  the  chiefs  who  agreed  to  the  Plan 
de  Ayutla,  aimed  to  put  an  end  to  the  military  dictatorship  and 
the  oppression  exerted  by  the  wealthy  classes ;  and  as  this  revo¬ 
lution  was  made  by  the  oppressed,  the  lower  classes,  the  ignor- 
ants,  the  Constitution  of  1857  which  was  its  result,  could  not, 
rationally,  forego  the  granting  to  all  without  distinction,  of  the 
right  to  vote,  since  it  would  have  been  an  inconsequence  to  deny 
the  people  the  advantages  of  their  triumph.  The  revolution  at  the 
head  of  which  I  have  been  placed,  has  also  aimed  at  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  the  military  dictatorship,  uprooting  it  and  giving  to  the 
Nation  all  the  conditions  of  life  necessary  for  its  full  develop¬ 
ment;  and  as  the  ignorant  masses  are  those  which  have  suffered 
most,  because  the  full  weight  of  cruel  despotism  and  insatiable 
exploitation  has  fallen  on  them,  it  would  be  not  only  an  incon¬ 
sequence,  but  an  unpardonable  deceit,  to  deprive  them  of  what 
they  have  conquered. 

The  Government  in  my  charge  considers  it,  therefore,  bad 
procedure  and  inopportune  at  the  present  moment,  after  a  great 
popular  revolution,  to  restrict  suffrage  demanding  the  only  re¬ 
quisite  that  can  be  exacted,  that  all  citizens  have  sufficient 
elemental  instruction  to  know  the  importance  of  the  electoral 
function  so  that  they  can  fulfill  it  in  conditions  fruitful  for  society. 

Despite  this  fact,  in  the  proposed  reform  which  I  am  submit¬ 
ting  to  this  honorable  body,  with  reference  to  the  electoral  right, 
the  conveniency  is  consulted,  of  temporarily  depriving  any 
Mexican  citizen  of  this  right  who  does  not  know  how  to  use  his 
right  as  a  Mexican  correctly,  any  one  who  looks  with  indiffer¬ 
ence  on  whatever  matters  pertaining  to  the  republic.  His 
economic  condition  or  his  education  would  be  no  preventive  for 
this  barring,  since  they  would  only  tend  to  demonstrate  his  lack 
of  interest,  which  in  itself  would  be  sufficient  for  depriving  him  of 
the  prerogative  to  vote. 

The  Government  in  my  charge  believes  that  the  constant  de¬ 
sire  shown  by  the  lower  classes  of  the  Mexican  people  to  secure 
a  welfare  of  which  they  have  been  deprived  to  date,  fully  capa¬ 
citates  them  to  appoint  representatives  when  the  time  comes, 
and  to  select  those  individuals  which  inspire  them  with  more 
confidence. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Government  resultant  from  the  Revo¬ 
lution, — and  this  fact  is  evident  to  all  the  republic— has  had  a  de- 


13 


cided  interest  in  spreading-  instruction  throughout  the  country, 
and  this  gives  rise  to  the  well-founded  belief  that  instruction 
x  will  continue  to  spread  intensely  so  that  all  Mexicans  become  a 
cultured  people,  capable  of  understanding  the  high  destiny  of 
the  nation  and  give  them  and  the  government  a  solid,  effective 
co-operation  which  will  make  anarchy  on  the  one  side,  and 
dictatorship  on  the  other,  an  impossible  thing. 

The  independent  municipality  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  great¬ 
est  conquests  of  the  revolution,  since  it  is  the  basis  of  a  free 
government,  a  conquest  which  not  only  will  give  political  free¬ 
dom  to  the  municipal  life,  but  will  also  give  it  economic  inde¬ 
pendence,  since  each  municipality  will  have  its  own  finances  to 
attend  to  all  its  needs,  and  thus  will  be  out  of  the  reach  of  the 
greediness  which,  up  to  date,  governors  of  states  have  usually 
shown ;  and  also  a  good  electoral  law  which  will  keep  the  latter 
absolutely  separate  from  the  public  vote,  and  which  will  severely 
punish  any  attempt  to  violate  it,  and  help  to  set  the  electoral 
power  on  a  firm  basis  giving  it  freedom  to  duly  fulfill  its  mission. 

The  organization  of  the  electoral  power,  which  will  have  the 
preferent  attention  of  the  next  Constitutional  congress,  will  con¬ 
tribute  in  a  great  part,  to  prevent  the  Legislative  power  from 
being  a  mere  tool  of  the  Executive  power,  for  the  representatives, 
being  elected  by  the  people  without  interference  from  the  central 
power,  will  constitute  Chambers  which  really  act  for  the  welfare 
of  the  nation  and  cease  to  be  centers  of  oppression  and  disturb¬ 
ances  actuated  only  by  the  desire  of  personal  gain.  Because  we 
must  not  forget,  even  for  an  instant,  that  the  best  institu¬ 
tions  fail  and  are  dead  letters  if  not  practiced,  and  only  serve  to 
cover  the  impositions  of  mandataries  against  the  will  of  the 
people,  with  the  mantle  of  legality. 

The  division  of  the  branches  of  public  power  follows,  as  I 
stated  before,  the  fundamental  idea  of  fixing  precise  boundaries 
to  the  action  of  the  representatives  of  the  country  so  as  to  pre¬ 
vent  them  from  exerting  their  power  to  the  detriment  of  the 
nation.  It  is  therefore  necessary,  not  only  to  mark  definitely  the 
scope  of  action  of  each  department,  but  also  to  correlate  them  in 
such  a  manner  that  ■none  supersedes  the  other  and  that  no  con¬ 
flict  results  between  them,  which  might  place  obstacles  in  the 
path  of  public  affairs,  or  even  affect  order  and  peace  in  the 
Republic. 

The  Legislative  power,  which  by  its  own  nature  has  a  tend¬ 
ency  to  interfere  with  the  functions  of  the  others,  was  endowed 
in  the  Constitution  of  1857,  with  faculties  which  permitted  it  to 
impede  or  make  the  action  of  the  Executive  power  difficult,  or  to 
subject  the  latter  to  the  capricious  will  of  a  majority  easily 
obtained  during  the  periods  of  turbulence,  when  evil  passions 
and  bastard  interests  predominate.  .  .Several  of  the  reforms  here¬ 
in  proposed  aim  to  this  end,  and  the  principal  one  attempts  to  de- 


14 


prive  the  House  of  Deputies  of  the  power  to  indict  the  President 
of  the  republic  and  the  other  functionaries  of  the  federation,  a 
power  which  is  no  doubt  the  reason  why  former  dictatorships 
always  tried  to  secure  servile  deputies  who  could  be  handled  as 
automats.  The  Legislative  power  undisputably  has  the  right 
and  the  obligation  to  inspect  all  acts  of  the  government  in  order 
to  fulfill  its  duty,  taking  all  those  steps  which  are  conducive  to 
normalize  the  action  of  the  government;  but  when  such  investi¬ 
gation  is  not  merely  informative  in  order  to  judge  of  the  neces¬ 
sity  or  uselessness  of  a  legislative  measure,  but  afifects  a  merely 
judicial  form,  the  reform  which  is  referred  to,  grants  both  to  the 
House  and  the  Executive  the  power  to  request  that  the  Supreme 
Court  appoint  commissions  from  its  members,  or  a  magistrate  of 
the  Circuit  courts,  a  District  judge,  or  a  commission  formed  by 
independent  individuals  to  open  the  corresponding  investigation 
simply  to  clarify  the  act  about  which  information  is  desired ;  a 
thing  which  could  not  be  done  by  congressmen  themselves,  who 
ordinarily  woul<^l  have  to  be  satisfied  with  the  reports  given  them 
by  interior  authorities. 

This  is  the  opportunity,  Honorable  Deputies,  to  refer  to  a 
question  which  will  no  doubt  come  to  your  attention,  since  it 
has  been  agitated  for  the  past  few  years  in  order  to  decide  for  a 
certain  system  of  government  which  is  recommended  as  infalli¬ 
ble  on  the  one  side,  against  dictatorship,  and  on  the  other, 
against  anarchy,  between  which  extremes  the  Latin-American 
peoples  have  been  oscillating  since  the  time  when  they  achieved 
independence.  I  refer  to  the  parliamentary  system. 

I  consider  it  not  only  convenient,  but  indispensable,  to  state, 
even  though  succinctly,  the  motives  that  have  moved  me  not  to 
accept  such  a  system  among  the  reforms  which  I  bring  to  your 
attention.  Tocqueville  observed  in  his  study  of  the  history  of 
American  nations  of  Spanish  origin,  that  these  peoples  go  to¬ 
wards  anarchy  when  they  grow  tired  of  obeying,  and  to  dictator¬ 
ship  when  they  are  tired  of  destroying,  and  he  considered  this 
oscillation  between  order  and  turbulence  as  a  fatal  law  which 
has  governed  and  will  still  sway  the  aforementioned  countries 
for  a  long  time.  The  statesman  referred  to  did  not  state  what 
in  his  opinion,  was  the  remedy  for  such  an  evil,  a  thing  which 
it  would  have  been  easy  for  him  to  determine  if  only  he  had 
observed  the  causes  of  the  phenomenon  and  of  the  circumstances 
under  which  it  is  always  reproduced.  Latin-American  countries 
while  they  were  dependencies  of  Spain,  were  ruled  by  the  iron 
hand :  there  was  no  law  but  the  Viceroy’s  will,  and  the  vassals 
had  no  rights.  Whoever  altered  order,  either  propagating  dis¬ 
solving  theories  or  ideas  which  merely  mined  the  foundations  of 
faith  or  authority,  or  who  tried  to  fan  revolt,  had  no  other  end 
but  the  scafifold. 

When  the  struggle  for  Independence  finally  broke  the  ties 
which  held  these  countries  to  the  Spanish  metropolis,  the  people, 


15 


dazzled  by  the  greatness  of  the  French  Revolution,  adopted  all 
the  revindications  of  that  revolt,  without  thinking  that  they 
lacked  the  men  who  could  guide  them  in  that  arduous  task,  and 
that  they  were  not  prepared  for  it.  Governments  cannot  be 
erected  from  night  to  morning,  and  to  be  free  it  is  not  enough  to 
wish  it,  it  is  indispensable  to  know  how. 

The  peoples  to  which  we  refer  have  needed  and  still  need, 
strong  governments  which  are  capable  of  holding  within  the 
limits  of  order,  those  undisciplined  peoples  always  ready  under 
the  slightest  pretext  to  step  over  boundaries  committing  all 
kinds  of  outrages;  but  unhappily  in  this  particular,  confusion  has 
occurred,  and  a  despotic  government  has  been  considered  as  a 
strong  government,  a  fatal  error  which  has  fostered  the  ambition 
of  the  upper  classes,  anxious  to  take  possession  of  the  handling  of 
public  affairs. 

It  has  been  generally  believed  that  order  cannot  be  main¬ 
tained  without  overstepping  the  law,  and  this,  and  no  other,  is 
the  cause  of  the  fatal  law  to  which  Tocqueville  refers,  because 
dictatorship  will  never  produce  order,  just  as  darkness  never 
can  produce  light.  Let  us,  therefore,  dissipate  the  error,  teach 
the  people  that  it  cannot  enjoy  its  liberty  if  it  does  not  know 
how  to  use  it,  that  is  to  say,  that  liberty’s  condition  is  order,  and 
without  this,  the  former  is  unattainable. 

Let  the  Government  of  Latin-American  nations  be  based  on 
this  truth,  and  the  problem  will  be  favorably  solved.  In  Mexico, 
from  the  Independence  to  date,  only  a  few  of  the  legal  govern¬ 
ments  adhered  to  this  principle,  as*  did  the  government  of 
Juarez,  and  for  that  reason  they  were  successful.  The  others, 
such  as  those  of  Guerrero  and  Madero,  succumbed  because  they 
did  not  attend  to  that  principle.  They  wanted  to  impose  order 
at  the  same  time  teaching  the  law,  and  the  result  was  failure. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  the  Government  should  respect  Law  and 
institutions,  it  also  should  be  inexorable  with  the  perturbers  of 
public  order  and  the  enemies  of  society.  Thus  only  can  Nations 
li ve  and  march  towards  progress. 

The  Constitution  of  1857  had  a  good  conception  of  the  Execu¬ 
tive  power,  free  in  its  own  sphere  of  action  in  order  to  develop 
its  politics  without  any  limitation  except  the  respect  of  the  law ; 
but  they  did  not  complete  the  task,  because  they  reduced  the 
prestige  of  the  Executive,  making  the  election  of  the  president, 
mediatory,  and  therefore,  this  election  was  not  the  fruit  of  the 
people’s  will,  but  the  product  of  the  fraudulent  combinations  of 
the  Electoral  Colleges. 

The  direct  election  of  the  president,  and  the  “no-reelection” 
are  the  triumphs  secured  by  the  Revolution  of  1910,  and  no 
doubt  gave  more  strength  to  the  government  of  the  country ;  and 
the  reforms  which  I  now  propose  to  have  made,  will  no  doubt 


16 


complete  this  work.  The  President  will  not  be  at  the  mercy  of 
the  Legislative  power,  and  he  will  not  be  able  to  infringe  on  the 
latter’s  rights. 

If  the  President  is  elected  directly  by  the  people,  and  is  in 
constant  touch  with  the  latter  by  means  of  respect  to  the  people’s 
liberties,  and  by  the  ample  and  effective  participation  of  the 
latter  in  public  affairs,  by  the  prudent  conciliation  of  the  different 
social  classes  and  by  the  development  of  legitimate  interests,  the 
President  will  undoubtedly  be  supported  by  the  people,  both 
against  the  invasion  by  the  Houses,  and  that  of  the  praetorians. 
The  government  will  then  be  just  and  strong,  and  the  fatal  law 
of  Tocqueville  will  cease  to  be. 

Now,  what  is  claimed  for  the  Parliamentary  system?  Nothing 
less  than  to  deprive  the  President  of  his  gubernatorial  faculties 
so  that  Congress  may  exert  them  by  means  of  a  commission 
formed  of  its  own  members,  called  “Cabinet.”  In  other  words, 
the  aim  is  to  have  the  personal  president  disappear,  and  make 
him  merely  a  decorative  figure. 

Where  then,  would  be  the  strength  of  the  Government?  In 
parliament.  As  the  latter,  in  its  condition  of  deliberating  body 
is  ordinarily  inept  for  administering,  the  government  would  al¬ 
ways  march  in  the  dark,  afraid  each  instant  to  be  blamed. 

Parliamentarism  is  understood  in  matter,  and  in  Spain,  where 
it  means  a  victory  over  the  old  system  of  absolute  power  of  kings  ; 
it  is  explainable  in  France  because  this  country,  despite  its  repub¬ 
lican  system  of  Government,  is  always  influenced  by  its  monarch¬ 
ical  antecedents;  but  it  would  have  no  justification  among  us  and 
it  would  at  least  be  imprudent  to  start  the  experience  of  a  weak 
government  when  it  is  so  easy  to  strengthen  and  consolidate  the 
system  of  a  government  of  a  personal  president  left  to  us  by  the 
Constituents  of  1857. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  parliamentary  regime  unavoidably 
presupposes,  two  or  more  political  parties,  perfectly  organized, 
and  a  considerable  number  of  men  in  those  parties,  among  whom 
gubernamental  functions  may  be  frequently  distributed. 

But  as  we  lack  two  of  the  conditions  to  which  I  have  just  re¬ 
ferred,  the  Government  would  be  constantly  under  difficulties 
to  organize  its  cabinet  in  order  to  respond  to  the  frequent 
ministerial  crises. 

I  understand  that  the  parliamentary  regime  has  given  no  re¬ 
sults  in  the  few  Latin-American  countries  wherein  it  has  been 
adopted ;  but  in  my  opinion,  the  best  proof  that  it  is  not  a 
government  system  from  which  great  results  may  be  expected, 
is  the  fact  that  the  United  States  of  the  North,  wherein  the  same 
system  of  personal  president  exists,  has  never  given  a  thought  tc 
the  parliamentary  regime,  which  means  that  it  is  not  considered 
as  having  any  real  value. 


17 


In  my  judgment,  the  most  sensible,  wisest  thing  to  do,  one  in 
accordance  with  our  -political  antecedents,  and  which  will  keep 
us  from  making  experiments  with  foreign  systems  suitable  for 
cultured  nations  whose  origin  is  different  from  ours,  and  I 
shall  not  tire  of  repeating  it,  to  constitute  the  Government  of  the 
Republic  with  respectful  regard  of  that  deep  tendency  towards 
liberty,  equality  and  the  assurance  of  respect  of  its  rights 
which  is  rooted  in  the  Mexican  people ;  because  we  must  keep  in 
sight  that  the  nations,  as  they  advance  feel  more  and  more  the 
need  to  follow  their  own  course  in  order  to  preserve  and  develop 
their  lives,  allowing  to  all  social  elements  the  full  enjoyment  of 
their  rights  and  of  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  this  enjoy¬ 
ment,  the  principal  one  being  that  of  individual  initiative. 

This  progress  is  the  basis  on  which  the  political  progress 
must  stand ;  because  peoples  persuade  themselves  very  easily 
that  the  slightest  constitutional  arrangement  is  the  one  which 
better  protects  the  development  of  the  social  and  individual 
life,  based  on  the  complete  possession  of  the  freedom  of  the 
individual  and  of  the  liberties  of  the  individual,  under  the  con¬ 
dition  that  the  latter  does  not  deprive  third  parties  of  their  rights. 

You  know  already,  messieurs  the  Deputies,  the  reform  recently 
carried  out  by  the  government  in  my  charge,  of  articles  78,  80,  81 
and  82  of  the  Federal  Constitution;  suppressing  the  Vice¬ 
presidency,  and  establishing  a  new  system  to  substitute  the 
President  of  the  Republic  either  in  his  temporal  or  in  his  absolute 
disability;  and  although  the  expositive  part  of  the  relative  decree 
explains  the  motives  for  said  reforms,  I  consider  it,  however, 
opportune  to  call  your  attention  to  the  subject.  The  Vice¬ 
presidency  which  in  other  countries  has  become  a  habit  and  has 
been  very  useful,  has  had  in  our  country,  through  a  chain  of  un¬ 
happy  circumstances,  such  a  fatal  history,  that  instead  of  as¬ 
suring  the  presidential  succession  in  a  pacific  manner  in  unex¬ 
pected  cases,  has  done  nothing  but  weaken  the  Government  of 
the  Republic ;  in  fact,  perhaps  because  when  that  institution  was 
in  force,  the  appointment  of  the  vice-president  fell  on  unscrupu¬ 
lous  ambitious  men,  perhaps  the  lack  of  democratic  habits  or  the 
lack  of  honesty  of  those  who  do  not  try  to  find  in  politics  the 
means  of  co-operating  in  a  useful  manner  with  the  Government 
of  their  country,  but  only  to  secure  reprobable  advantages  in 
public  business.  Therefore,  the  Vice-president  willingly,  or  un¬ 
willingly,  usually  became  the  center  of  opposition,  wherein  were 
concentrated  all  the  hatreds,  all  the  hostilities  against  the  person 
who  had  charge  of  the  supreme  power  of  the  Republic.  The 
Vice-Presidency  in  Mexico  has  presented  the  following  spectacle  : 
a  public  functionary  (the  Vice-president)  endeavoring  to  over¬ 
throw^ — on  account  of  inability  or  of  having  violated  the  law — 
the  President  of  the  Republic ;  aiming  to  replace  the  latter,  and 
having  no  opponent  before  him  to  prevent  him  from  accomplish¬ 
ing  the  downfall  of  the  President. 


18 


During-  the  last  period  of  the  government  of  General  Diaz,  the 
vice-presidency  waS  merely  an  invention  of  the  “cientificos”  in 
order  to  hold  the  central  power  in  their  hands,  in  the  event  of  the 
disappearance  of  the  former. 

The  manner  in  which  the  absence  of  the  President  is  to  be 
filled,  such  as  has  been  adopted  in  the  system  established  by  the 
reforms  to  which  I  am  referring,  fulfills  its  object  satisfactorily, 
in  my  opinion.  It  is  good  politics  to  prevent  the  excitement 
usually  attendant  to  electoral  struggles ;  the  latter  give  impulse 
to  large  interests  around  the  possible  candidates.  The  system  of 
substituting  the  president  by  the  so-called  Secretaries  of  State, 
calling  them  in  the  order  established  by  the  law  which  has  insti¬ 
tuted  them,  merely  served  to  leave  absolutely  in  the  hands  of 
the  President  the  designation  of  the  individual  who  should 
succeed  him. 

The  system  adopted  by  the  Government  in  my  charge  will 
stumble  against  none  of  these  obstacles,  for  the  individual  who 
according  to  it  is  to  substitute  for  the  President  of  the  republic 
during  temporal  or  absolute  absence,  shall  be  a  man  chosen 
really  by  popular  vote,  since  the  members  of  the  Congress  of 
the  Union  are  the  real  representatives  of  the  people,  and  together 
with  the  power  invested  in  them  by  their  electors,  they  shall  also 
have  the  duty  to  elect  the  substitute  to  the  President  of  the 
Republic,  when  occasion  demands. 

Another  reform,  the  importance  of  which  I  wish  to  bring  to 
your  attention,  messieurs  the  Deputies,  is  that  which  aims  to  in¬ 
sure  the  full  independence  of  the  Judicial  power;  a  reform  which, 
as  that  one  which  has  modified  the  duration  of  the  period  for 
the  President  of  the  Republic,  reveals  clearly  the  evident  honesty 
and  decided  earnestness  with  which  the  Government  of  the  Revo¬ 
lution  is  carrying  out  the  program  it  proclaimed  in  Veracruz,  on 
the  12th  day  of  December,  1914;  since  one  of  the  most  ardent 
desires  and  most  deeply  felt  needs  of  the  Mexican  people  is  to 
have  independent  tribunals  to  carry  out  effectively  the  in¬ 
dividual  guarantees  against  the  outrageous  attempts  and  ex¬ 
cesses  of  the  agents  of  public  power  and  which  will  protect  the 
quiet  and  pacific  enjoyment  of  civil  rights,  until  now  lacking. 
I  shall  not  weary  your  attention  any  longer,  as  it  would  be  a 
long  and  heavy  task  to  speak  to  you  of  the  other  reforms  con¬ 
tained  in  the  project  submitted  to  you,  reforms  which  all  aim  to 
insure  public  liberties  by  means  of  the  law,  to  guarantee  the 
rights  of  all  Mexicans  by  means  of  the  good  service  of  a  justice 
dealt  by  capable  and  honest  men,  and  to  call  the  Mexican  people 
to  participate  in  all  possible  ways,  in  the  public  administration. 
The  Government  in  my  charge  believes  it  has  fulfilled  its  labor  in 
so  much  as  has  been  within  its  power,  and  if  it  has  not  fully 
succeeded,  this  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  enterprise  is  exceed¬ 
ingly  difficult  and  requires  constant  attention,  which  I  was 


19 


unable  to  give,  due  to  the  fact  that  I  had  many  other  important 
matters  to  attend  to.  It  is  for  you  to  complete  the  labor,  with 
all  the  faith,  with  all  the  interest  and  enthusiasm  which  the 
mother  country  demands,  expecting  you  to  give  her  wise  and 
just  laws. 

Queretaro,  December  1°,  1916. 

THE  SPECIAL  ENVOY. 


President  of  the  Congress,  Luis  Manuel  Rojas,  replied: 

Honorable  First  Chief,  in  charge  of  the  Executive  Power  of  the 
nation :  The  Constituent  Congress  over  which  it  is  my  honor  to 
preside,  has  listened  attentively  to  the  report  which  you  have 
read  and  in  which  you  delineate  in  a  very  clear  manner  the 
political  and  social  principles  which  have  been  your  guide  when 
carrying  out  the  different  reforms  which  are  indispensable  in 
order  to  adapt  the  Constitution  of  1857  to  the  deeper  needs  and 
new  aspirations  of  the  Mexican  people. 

You  are  right  in  considering  that  among  the  great,  genuine 
satisfactions  which  you  have  had  during  your  long  struggle 
against  an  usurper’s  government  and  in  favor  of  the  liberties  and 
welfare  of  the  Mexicans,  even  of  the  lowest,  the  satisfaction  you 
experience  at  the  present  moment  is  the  greatest  of  all,  now  that 
you  come  before  the  national  representatives  to  fulfill  one  of  the 
solemn  promises  which  you  made  in  Veracruz  in  the  name  of  the 
Revolution.  The  high  thoughts  expressed  in  your  report  are 
permeated  with  your  personality,  heated-  by  your  conviction  and 
are  the  fruit  of  your  experience ;  they  evidence  not  only  to  the 
Mexican  people,  but  to  the  whole  world,  that  you  are  also  a 
great  apostle  of  public  freedom  and  the  most  decided  and  in¬ 
telligent  paladin  of  Mexican  democracy.  You  are  perhaps 
the  man  who  during  several  years  has  held  in  his  hands  the  most 
absolute  and  energetic  powers  in  this  country.  And  when  the 
exercise  of  this  enormous  sum  of  faculties  has  given  occasion  to 
our  enemies  both  at  home  and  abroad,  for  predicting  that  you 
would  not  easily  resign  those  powers,  you  come  and  declare  in 
the  most  frank  and  sincere  manner  and  with  perfect  spontaneity, 
that  the  fundamental  principle  on  which  the  new  constitution 
must  be  based  is  the  amplest  respect  for  human  liberty,  and  you 
proclaim  also  the  right  of  the  people  to  govern  itself,  precisely  at 
the  time  when  you  are  at  the  height  of  power  and  glory,  where 
the  temptations  of  ambition  and  the  suggestions  of  selfishness 
exert  ordinarily  a  fatal  influence  so  difficult  to  resist.  You  are 
perfectly  right  in  proclaiming  in  a  particular  manner,  that  the 
government  must  be  exclusively  the  work  of  the  Nation,  and 


20 


that  only  under  these  conditions  is  it  possible  for  the  govern¬ 
ment  to  be  strong  to  impose  order  at  home  and  to  command 
respect  abroad. 

It  has  not,  therefore,  been  in  vain  that  the  Mexican  people 
have  placed  their  hopes  in  you  and  followed  you  enthusiastically 
and  lovingly  from  the  month  of  March  of  1913  that  it  has  seen  in 
you  their  saviour  through  the  different  phases  of  the  epic  struggle 
you  have  had  to  keep  up,  and  that  to-morrow  this  same  people 
will  proclaim  you  as  the  great  statesman  who  succeeded  in 
making  effectual  the  free  institutions  in  Mexico.  It  would  be 
almost  impossible  for  me  to  refer  at  the  present  moment  to  all 
the  important  points  of  your  transcendental  general  project  of 
reforms  to  the  present  Constitution,  nor  to  the  different  prin¬ 
ciples  to  which  you  have  recourse  in  order  to  base  the  reforms 
you  advocate  after  painting  with  a  master- hand  the  precepts 
proclaimed  in  the  fundamental  law  of  1857,  despite  its  indisput¬ 
able  theoretical  value,  have  become  in  practice  absolutely 
sterile  because  they  have  not  served  to  establish  a  government 
really  respectful  of  the  rights  of  man,  nor  to  organize  all  social 
elements,  harmonizing  and  making  them  co-operate  for  the 
general  weal;  that  is,  preventing  anarchy  which  is  that  social 
condition  where  each  man  is  moved  by  his  own  personal  selfish 
interest,  without  preoccupying  himself  in  the  least  with  the 
respect  due  to  the  rights  of  others.  I  therefore  limit  myself  to 
acknowledge  receipt  of  the  project  of  reforms  to  the  Constitu¬ 
tion  of  1857  and  I  can  assure  you  that  each  and  every  one  of  the 
citizens  who  form  this  Constituent  Congress  is  animated  by 
the  highest  desire  to  fulfill  the  mission  with  which  the  people  has 
entrusted  them,  and  that  as  you  expect  we  will  second  with  all 
zeal  and  patriotism,  your  labor,  feeling  satisfied  to  be  with  you 
in  the  great  work  of  the  national  reconstruction. 

LUIS  MANUEL  ROJAS. 


21 


Does  Mexico  Interest  You? 


Then  you  should  read  the  following  pamphlets: 


What  the  Catholic  Church  Has  Done  for  Mexico,  by  Doctor 

Paganel  . 

The  Agrarian  Law  of  Yucatan . 

The  Labor  Law  of  Yucatan . 


$0.10 


International  Labor  Forum . 

Intervene  in  Mexico,  Not  to  Make,  but  to  End  War,  urges 

Mr.  Hearst,  with  reply  by  Rolland . 

The  President’s  Mexican  Policy,  by  F.  K.  Lane . 


The  Religious  Question  in  Mexico.. 
A  Reconstructive  Policy  in  Mexico. 
Manifest  Destiny . 


What  of  Mexico . 

Speech  of  General  Alvarado . 

Many  Mexican  Problems . 

Charges  Against  the  Diaz  Administration 

Carranza  . 

Stupendous  Issues  . 

Minister  of  the  Catholic  Cult . 

Star  of  Hope  for  Mexico . 

Land  Question  in  Mexico . 


f 


Open  Letter  to  the  Editor  of  the  Chicago  Tribune,  Chicago,  Ill. 

How  We  Robbed  Mexico  in  1848,  by  Robert  H.  Howe . 

What  the  Mexican  Conference  Really  Means . 


The  Economic  Future  of  Mexico 


0.15 

0.10 

0.10 

0.10 

0.10 

0.10 


We  also  mail  any  of  these  pamphlets  upon  receipt  of  5c  each. 


Address  all  communications  to 

LATIN-AMERICAN  NEWS  ASSOCIATION 
1400  Broadway,  New  York  City 


